One of the only intelligent things this administration has done, in my opinion. The only time pot is hurting anybody is if it is being transported via Mexico, because they actually will kill over some weed. Elsewhere, it's grown by unkempt white kids in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. They're not exactly a threat to Western civilization.

It's like with traffic stops. The only reason the gov't pursues marijuana like it does is that it is a bulky product with a distinctive odor, even before smoked. Easy conviction. Sending some of those wide-eyed longhairs to prison with meth producers and street-sale crack dealers, drugs that actually do some harm, is almost sadistic.

So the Feds will selectively enforce Federal law based upon adherence to specific State law?

Could this be useful in States that pass firearms laws intended to assert their rights under the Tenth Amendment?

Selective enforcement being well, selective.

>>"prosecutors will be told it is not a good use of their time "

Great, this means they'll be spending their time cracking down on illegal immigration.

No? Then what WILL they spend their time doing? Prosecuting conservatives for "hate speech"?

Now if they would only understand that the money being spent on all the other drugs is going to organized crime and terrorist and allow people to buy whatever they desired at the drug store without a prescription, then we will have a measure of returned freedom. Imagine the impact it would have on doctor's offices and ER's if you could go to Walgreens and simply buy what you needed. Some countries allow this without significant consequence.

Well, that makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? While threatening to tax those that aren't in reasonably good physical shape and taxing certain food items it doesn't approve of the government is now starting to trend towards allowing it's citizens to use a substance known to cause the munchies. Taxing food and encouraging the smoking of pot, that just might just provide enough tax revenues to take care of the deficit!

Next up: Dorito Flavored Ice Cream!

How do they know if people are using or providing pot within the strict confines of the law if they lay off and do no investigation? Of course, it's a waste of time to arrest people who are working within the state law - the law which was intended for very ill people who truly need to smoke a joint rather than use a prescription. More dopers for Obama, more decadence, thanks libs, you're really improving society.

How do they know if people are using or providing pot within the strict confines of the law if they lay off and do no investigation?

The guidelines to be issued by the department do, however, make it clear that agents will go after people whose marijuana distribution goes beyond what is permitted under state law or use medical marijuana as a cover for other crimes, the officials said.

I was going to write my own comment but this, which appeared at NRO's The Corner, covers most of what I would say:

Medical Marijuana and the States [Wesley J. Smith]

It is subversive of the rule of law for a president to refuse to enforce the law, and particularly to announce that unenforcement will be administration policy.

The correct answer to the medical-marijuana issue is for Congress to take it out of Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act (no legitimate medical use) and put it into a different schedule, which would allow the FDA to approve cannabis for prescribing, as is done with stronger drugs such as morphine and cocaine.

Once presidents get to pick and choose which laws they will enforce, we have ceased to be a nation of laws. I made that point in more detail in this San Francisco Chronicle column from a few years ago.

10/19 09:46 PMShare

PS:

I look forward to Obama applying this judicious application of US law to the ATF and firearms.

will somebody please explain how a drug can be approved for medical use when it has never gone through FDA testing? And no it is not harmless.